


Paying off the debt

by disordr



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, I had to make it better, M/M, Suicide Attempt, based off that one possible spoiler I don't like, hux has suicidal tendencies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-11
Updated: 2016-08-11
Packaged: 2018-08-08 03:20:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7741384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disordr/pseuds/disordr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based off this post with possible Hux spoiler i don't like: https://iwasraisedtodoonething.com/2016/07/22/a-flaming-husk-hux/ (Some people say it's fake, but read at your own risk.)</p>
<p>In short Kylo saves Hux from himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Paying off the debt

This was a disaster. The end of the First Order, the Finalizer, the end of general Hux. He still couldn't wrap his mind around it entirely, and odd feeling for a man who had always known what to do, could come up with a strategy in any situation, but this one he knew for certain. His surroundings were somewhat distant to him, he heard the screams of his men like they were on the other side of a thick wall even if they were running right past him. They weren't following any orders, some desperately tried to fight, some tried to escape, others were just panicking. Hundreds and thousands of white armors, looking exactly the same as him, the traitor. 

There was only one deserter in his ranks and that was all it was needed to ruin him and everything he had built. At first he was only concerned about other stormtroopers responding to the treason and fleeing to the resistance like FN-2187 did. Then the Starkiller happened, and Hux knew that it could only go downhill from there. One broken cog in his flawless, fierce machine brought the destruction to everything. 

Hux wanted to look him in the eyes, maybe that was why he kept walking instead of just sitting and waiting for the moment when the engines would blow up. Maybe he was searching for some lost blaster bolt to hit him before they all would turn into the space dust. He marched with his hands clasped behind his back as he would do it normally on the bridge, his back straight and only a few hairs out of place. Some stormtrooper bumped against his shoulder from behind, running away from something. A second after, there was explosion behind him. Hux lost his balance for a second, feeling the shock wave hitting him and the bang almost ripping his eardrums, but he kept walking. He was deaf to the shouting around him. A rain of bright white sparks showered him as he walked past the exploding light. Everything around him was happening in some different dimension, looking as if it was a holofilm played in slow motion, without a sound. After a debris fell down somewhere on the left, he felt somebody tugging at his sleeve and connecting him back to the present for a moment.

“S-sir, what now? What are we supposed to do?! Sir?!” whined a young man in lieutenant uniform. His black hair was tousled and his eyes red, there was a cut on his forehead oozing with blood. Hux recognized Dopheld Mitaka in him, even if he looked like a trembling mess, not a First Order officer.

“Save yourself, lieutenant, or say your prayers if you have any god you believe in,” Hux said blankly and patted him on his shoulder before he continued his march leaving the kid to decide his own fate.

Hux had decided a long time ago, back when the Starkiller base had been crumbling under his feet. The only difference there was that he had had a clear orders from the supreme leader to save Kylo Ren. Now Snoke was silent, which meant Hux wasn't needed anymore. His service was over, and all he had been doing in his life was serving the First Order. Without it he was nothing. He was supposed to walk like this to the emperor throne not his death. He thought about the captains of the old Empire dying in glory while standing on boards of their flaming starships. Hux would go down with the Finalizer as well like a hero, he told himself, even if deep inside he knew that nobody would remember his name after a year. 

Normally he would jump away from the debris falling off the ceiling and crashing against the floor right next to him, but this time he hardly noticed. There was another explosion of red flames lapping at his side. The general saw that his uniform had caught fire, his sleeve turning into ash exposing his bare skin for the fire to consume before his own very eyes.

“HUX WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING THERE!” 

There were heavy, rushed footsteps before something hit Hux and pushed him to the side. A steady strong arm wrapped itself over his shoulders, sheltering him, as the next explosion showered them with tiny debris pieces. Then there was running. Hux didn't know where he was going, he just let himself be dragged through the deserted halls, trying not to fall down. He knew it was Kylo Ren who was forcing him to run. He recognized Ren's command shuttle before he was shoved into it, falling to the floor without the support. The hiss of airlock closing. The low hum of the engine. Then the characteristic pull in his guts when they took off, leaving his home falling apart into a million pieces behind.

***

After retreating from the battle, and shooting down at least two x-wings, Kylo finally could type in the coordinates and turn on the autopilot. He left the cockpit to check on the suicidal general he left by the airlock by himself earlier. It was odd to see Hux breaking, Kylo would never suspect that he would give up on everything like that. Not him. He found Hux exactly where he had seen him last time, sitting on the floor curled on himself with his back against the wall. The knight stopped and forgot what he wanted to say because of how small and vulnerable Hux looked like. One of his sleeves was burned, showing a bit of red and swollen skin underneath. He needed help, and Kylo wasn't really good at helping people.

“Hux?” he started, uncertain what to ask him exactly. Hux looked too shaken up to answer something along the lines of 'how are you feeling?'. 

There was no answer, so Kylo walked up closer and crouched before him vainly trying to make any kind of contact. Hux only stared blankly at him, or rather through him, his face completely expressionless. 

“Hux answer me. Wake up!” Kylo slapped his face irritated by the growing anxiety swelling up in his throat. 

Hux's head was thrown to the side, but when he looked back at Kylo there was life in his eyes again along with tears. His lips trembled as he tried to keep them from running down his cheeks. Suddenly Kylo felt bad for being so rough with him.

“Why did you save me?” Hux asked quietly, looking away from Kylo's gaze. 

“I've paid off my debt. We're even now.”

Hux said nothing to that and retreated into himself again, pulling his legs closer to his chest.

“I'm going to scan you for a possible brain injury... It might feel a bit strange.” Kylo said, feeling that he should warn him before every touch now.

He gently placed his hands on Hux's temples startling him anyway and closed his eyes. Hux's feedback mostly indicated despair and the crushing feeling of being useless, a failure, the man who let the First Order fall, but besides his arm he had no injuries. He shivered under Kylo's hands and let out a shaky breath when Kylo took them away. Leaving him alone for a few seconds Kylo pressed the rectangular panel on a wall and retrieved the medkit from behind it. He was no medic, but the bacta patches should be enough. He was more concerned about Hux's mental state, and the fact that he didn't know what to do with it. He had been trained to hurt people, not comfort them.  
As he started to open Hux's collar in order to remove the jacket and get the access to the burn, the general flinched away not letting Ren's hands anywhere near his uniform. His cheeks became slightly flushed.

“Hux, you are injured, you have to take it off so I can patch you up.” Kylo sighed bringing the medkit closer for Hux to see. “I have no other intentions.”

“I know.” Hux said frowning, looking looking himself a bit for a second. Still he was embarrassed.

“Then take it off.”

Hux turned his face away from Kylo and with hesitation started to undress, hissing when he removed the parts that had stuck to his skin and aggravated the injury. Soon Kylo understood why Hux was so insecure. Underneath the layers of his crisp uniform Hux was delicately built, with narrow shoulders and slight waist. Kylo let out a quiet gasp in surprise and Hux immediately curled on himself again and covered himself with his hands, becoming even more red. Kylo didn't make any comment on that and started cleaning the injury.

“It's not a serious burn,” he said. “I'm going to apply bacta now. You'll be fine tomorrow.” Kylo realized that his arm might be but Hux would stay broken. It had to be the first time when he was in actual battle.

By the time he was done and Hux's arm was covered in thick white patches the ginger was shivering again, this time from the cold. Under his jacket he had worn only a white, standard first order tank top tucked in his breeches. After a second of consideration Kylo took off his cape and put it over Hux's bare shoulders, making a mental note to turn up the heat. It was warmer than Hux's ruined uniform jacket and much more soft.

“Go get some rest now.” he said before he left to the cockpit again.

***

With a glass of water in his hand, Kylo found Hux exactly in the same spot he had left him. It seemed that the general hadn't moved an inch, still sitting in the same curled up position. Maybe he didn't catch Kylo's invitation to go to the tiny living compartment and lay down on a cot. Kylo sighed. He was beginning to prefer the regular, petty general, who had never shut up than the husk sitting on his floor.

“Hux, you need sleep.” he said in a firm voice to get his attention. “Come with me. You'll feel better after you wake up.”

Taking Hux's hand, Kylo helped him to get on his feet again. Hux followed him him silently, clutching the cape with his one hand to stop it from falling off his slight frame. Kylo's command shuttle was equipped for longer missions with food, water and a small space where he could rest. The cot wasn't impressive, way too narrow for him to sleep comfortably, but it was better than the floor, or the pilot seat. Besides Hux was smaller than him.

“Here.” he pushed the blanket to the side making room for Hux to sit down. “Drink this and get some rest finally.”

Hux took a small sip from the glass Kylo had offered him and nodded slightly. Kylo left him with his glass to fill a small, metal water container and leave it on the cabinet in case Hux wanted more. He thought that he could make him caf when he wakes up. Behind him Hux took off his gloves and fumbled with his boots for a while, ultimately leaving them on.

“You're going to sleep in those?” Kylo asked.

“I don't have my boot jack,” Hux said with hesitation.

Kylo couldn't believe that the man who had once destroyed five planets couldn't take off his own boots. There was something scary about that. With a sigh Kylo took one of Hux's legs by the underside of his knee and pulled the perfectly fitted boot off. Hux must have polished them every cycle, but now they were all dirty, covered in dust and blood. After he was done with the second one, Kylo put them aside and turned to leave. 

“Where are you taking me?” he heard Hux's voice behind him.

“To Arkanis, it's still under the First Order command, besides it's your homewolrld, right?

“The Finalizer was my home.” Hux said, sniffing.

“You don't want to go there?”

“No- I mean... I don't know... How long will it even belong to the Order? We lost the fleet, it's over, Ren. I've failed everybody, I don't deserve to even show up there.” Hux hid his face in his hands, curling on himself again. 

Kylo stood silent simply lacking words atthat moment until Hux raised his head, so he could look in his face again. There was something about the way he looked at him, and Kylo couldn't refrain from reading his mind.

_Don't leave..._

Hux's thought process was a chaos, but this desperate plea was so easy to catch as if Hux transmitted it on purpose. Kylo obeyed and sat next to him, bringing his hand to Hux's forehead to check that he didn't have a fever. Tears filled Hux's eyes again, his hands clutched at the sheet as his shoulders began to tremble. Kylo didn't know hat to do. He thought about his mother for a second, remembering how she used to react when he was crying. Slowly he took his hand away from Hux's forehead and placed it on his back, pulling him closer. Hux let out a shaky breath as he hid his face against Kylo's shoulder and leaned into his warmth. He was still a bit stiff as if he was scared that Kylo would hurt him. 

Something warm unfurled in Kylo's chest as he held Hux in his arms, suddenly he felt so protective of him and wondered if Hux had felt the same after he had found him in the snow on Starkiller base. He remembered how how Hux had been shouting at him to not give up and not fall asleep while he dragged him to safety and how worried he had been afterwards. Kylo had mocked him for that later and Hux told him that he had been scared only of what Snoke would do to him if Kylo hadn't made it. An obvious lie. Kylo was sure that he had felt Hux's hand stroking his hair a few times in the med bay. It was then he realized that the general might have had certain feelings for him.

Kylo was running his fingers through the soft hair on the back of Hux's head when he felt the general's hands wrapping around his waist, holding onto him. There was something awkward about all this, but at the same time it felt good somehow, it had been so long since Kylo felt the warmth of another person. He could read off Hux's feedback that it had been the same in his case, maybe even worse. Not letting go, Kylo got off the bed and lifted Hux's legs to place them on the cot.

“Kylo...” Hux whispered almost tenderly as he was gently pressed down onto the pillow. It was the second time that Hux had called him Kylo, instead of the usual Ren. The first time was when he had saved Kylo's life.

“Sleep.” Kylo said softly, putting his fingers on Hux's temple. 

The Force soothed his rushing thoughts and anxieties, lulling him into deep sleep. A quiet, relieved sigh escaped his throat as his eyelids closed, his long, pale eyelashes falling over his cheeks. Before leaving Kylo made sure he was warm, fixing the cape on his shoulders and tucking him in the blanket. He needed a moment to think about what had just happened.


End file.
